doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fox trigger pulls

I recently acquired an A grade Fox Circa 1914. The trigger pulls are about 7-8 lbs. All my other guns are about 3-5. How hard is it to lighten the pulls?

Mark Beasland does great work on doubles. Bobby

it may just need an internal cleaning

Bill
An old gun should start with a good cleaning whenever there's a problem. Most good gunsmiths will clean a gun as part of the diagnosis. There may also be interference with stock or something else. I've found heavier than normal trigger pulls are like interference.

But if it truly is just heavy triggers, the work isn't entry level hobby gunsmith kind of work IMO.

The sear levers are relatively easy to access for a light polishing, and to make sure no stock wood/crud is interfering. The hammer notches are way more difficult to get at, except for cleaning.

We have taken the stock off and run it thru a ultra-sonic cleaning bath at the local gunsmith. I will reassemble it this evening and see if anything has changed. If the pulls have not lightened up then I will take it to Larry Feland in Houston for a look see.

Hard pulls mess up my timing.

Don't forget some lube after the cleaning. I put some moly on the sears.

This ultrasonic bath also has an oil bath that re lubs all the parts to prevent rust.

Does anyone think the A H Fox Gun Company put moly on the sears?

Not in the great Philadelphia pre-1930 era- maybe some roebucks on the sears, but by golly, no moly. Being also a serious target and varmint shooter (scope CF varmint rifles) am sear-i-ous about trigger pulls on my shotguns. Some years ago, before steel shot days, I had a 10# 32" barrel AH Fox HE "Super-Dooper-Fox"- and it had close to 7 lb. trigger pulls on each trigger. About 4 years ago I bought a Savage-AH Fox Utica Sterlingworth 20 gauge, DT, extractors, 28" M&F for dove shooting- The trigger pulls were also close to 7 lbs. on my Lyman trigger pull scale- waaay heavy on a 6 & 1/2 lb. shotgun, IMO. I had Brad B. do the trigger work (no job for amateurs here)- the gun had been in storage for 30 years when I bought it, the innards were clean as a whistle- but the crappier craftsmanship during the Depression let this sweet little Sterly get out the door with heavy pulls- not conducive to accurate wingshooting-.. RWTF